Catchick
Moses was the most famous of the pioneering
Armenians. Born at Basra on 30 August 1812, Catchick
landed in Singapore on 1 August 1828, just before
his sixteenth birthday, and his well-established
uncle, Aristarkies Sarkies soon found him work as a
clerk with Boustead & Company.

After
gaining five years’ experience at Boustead’s,
Catchick set up on his own and began trading with
Calcutta. Then, on 2 March 1840 he teamed up with
his uncle to establish the firm of Sarkies &
Moses, merchants and agents. On 6 March 1841, just
two days before his death, Aristarkies relinquished
his interest in the firm, leaving it in Catchick’s
capable hands. Retaining the existing name, Catchick
guided the firm for the next four decades, making it
a respected entity in the commercial world of old
Singapore. Apart from running Sarkies & Moses,
Catchick was a shareholder in the Tanjong Pagar Dock
Company and other companies, and also invested in
considerable real estate.

In the early
years, Catchick had regularly served on grand
inquests and the grand jury. A subscriber to the
Singapore Institution and its successor, Raffles
Institution, he was wealthy enough to stand for
election as a municipal commissioner. However,
unsuccessful in his first attempt in 1862, Catchick
never tried again.

The
recognised head of the Armenian community, Catchick
was its representative in the delegation which
welcomed Prince Albert and Prince George upon their
arrival in Singapore in 1882. Actively involved with
the Church, Catchick was unstintingly donated money
for renovations and additions.

Catchick
founded the Straits
Times, albeit almost by default. In the early
1840s, his friend, Martyrose Apcar had ordered a
printing press from England, intending to publish a
newspaper but his firm’s financial woes seemed to
dash this hope. To ensure Martyrose’s dream
materialised, Catchick took over the equipment and
launched the
Straits Times, having appointing Robert Woods as
editor. (Perhaps Catchick had developed an interest
in papers during his early days with Edward Boustead
who had edited the Singapore
Chronicle before starting the
Singapore Free Press.)

The first
edition of the Straits
Times came out on 15 July 1845. An eight-page
weekly, it was published at 7 Commercial Square
using a hand-operated press. The paper comprised two
sections - the first covered matters of general
interest to the settlement while the second provided
current prices and market information. It was also
planned to send an eight-page monthly summary to
Europe and elsewhere. With a subscription of
Sp.$1.75 per month, Catchick did not find the
venture financially rewarding and in September 1846,
he sold the paper to Robert Woods.